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CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Did this game reveal who we truly were beneath the surface, or did it change us? Was I really someone cold and calculating, or was I forced to be this way because of my situation? The thought stuck with me as I hung a tablecloth on the clothesline.

Not everything was gloom and doom. Something positive had happened after breakfast. Iron Face assigned me to laundry duty, cleaning and hanging table linens from the restaurant’s dinner service. Meanwhile, Kenji got stuck scrubbing the bathrooms. I couldn’t help but chuckle when it was announced. He’d always wanted to help me with chores, but this felt like poetic justice.

Because of my assignment, I had the rare opportunity to be outside. The air was crisp, the breeze light, and the weather mild. Sunshine peeked through scattered clouds, warming my skin as I worked. For a brief moment as I stood among the swaying white linens, the scent of lilac soap surrounding me, I forgot where I was. Almost.

Hanging linen was a task so simple and repetitive that my mind wandered back to the program. Iron Face’s mention of points gnawed at me. None had been awarded yet. Just another meaningless layer to the game. In fact, nothing about this place added up. Not the rules, not the methods, and certainly not the motives.

Even Reina’s words of advice seemed suspect. “Chef Sakamoto will choose whomever he wants.” Was he really choosing? Seemed more like a process of elimination, like Jiro had suggested.

Wait, if I’m the last person standing, would Chef Sakamoto deny me the apprenticeship spot because I’m a woman?

Could I really be here just as a tribute to my father? If that was true, it would make everything worse. Chef Sakamoto had known precisely what I’d endure here. He knew the risks I’d face. Would my father have approved of this?

A gust of wind raced through the compound, sending the linens flapping wildly like flags of surrender.

Movement at the end of the row caught my eye, and my pulse quickened. Kenji? I couldn’t let my guard down.

“Hey!” I called, but the figure darted out of sight behind the next row.

I dropped the tablecloth I’d been hanging and sprinted to the spot, yanking the linens aside. Nothing. The breeze rustled the empty line, mocking me.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw it again, another shadow slipping past at the far end. My heart raced as I tore after it, shoving the tablecloths out of my way. When I rounded the row, no one was there.

Maybe I’m just on edge. Perhaps it’s nothing.

But then I saw him as I adjusted the linen back onto the line. A man stood in the distance, his back to me. The slope of his shoulders and the way he turned his head were all too familiar. My pulse quickened.

It couldn’t be him—my father.

Before I could think, my feet moved on their own, carrying me toward him. But as I rounded the corner where he’d been standing, he was gone.

My chest heaved as I scanned the area. My eyes locked on the library just in time to see someone slip behind the building.

Kenji, I swear I’ll kill you if this is some twisted joke.

I sprinted after the figure, every step crunching the gravel beneath. When I reached the back of the library, the only place left for him to go was the maze. Without hesitation, I dove into the manicured hedges.

The walls of greenery loomed around me. Every rustle of leaves set my nerves on edge. I thought I heard footsteps on the other side of the hedge, but when I hurried to the corner, no one was there.

By the time I stumbled out of the maze and into the garden, my breaths were ragged. I scanned the area but saw nothing. No man, no shadow, no trace of anyone.

I swore I’d seen someone—a real person, not a figment of my imagination. It couldn’t have been a hallucination. Impossible. Yet here I stood, alone, staring at the pink canopy of cherry blossoms swaying in the breeze. Was this place getting to me? The anxiety of not knowing what the next challenge would bring, stacked on top of the guilt from watching my fellow apprentices eliminated in the most horrific ways, was a lot to bear. The wheels in my head wouldn’t stop turning, taxed and spinning overtime without additional pay.

But if it really was my father, why now? Why here?

I forced myself back to the clotheslines. As I adjusted the last of the linens, a sharp movement caught me off guard. A figure emerged from behind the sheets, and I screamed, stumbling back.

“Whoa! Easy, Akiko!” Jiro’s voice broke through my panic. His expression was as startled as mine. “It’s just me.”

“Damn it, Jiro!” I snapped, clutching my chest. “You scared the hell out of me! What are you even doing sneaking around like that?”

He frowned. “I wasn’t sneaking. I thought you saw me coming. Are you all right? You seem on edge.”

I glanced up and down the row, still jittery. “You shouldn’t sneak up on me like that.” My voice was quieter now. “I’m a target here. You know that.”

“Hey, I’m sorry.” Jiro’s tone softened. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just finished my chores in the restaurant and was heading to the library. I saw you and thought I’d say hi.”

I sighed, the tension in my shoulders easing. “It’s fine. I guess I am on edge.”

“We all are.” He tilted his head, studying me.

For a hot second, I debated telling him about the man I’d seen, my father’s ghost haunting the compound. But why give him something he might use against me when I didn’t know his true intentions?

“I’m fine,” I said instead. “Just tired. This place is getting to me.”

He raked his hand through his hair, clearing his eyes. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m tired of it too.”

That surprised me. “You?”

“Why not me?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. You just don’t seem like the type to… Never mind.” I shook my head. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“I told you. I was heading to the library. You want to join?”

“I can’t leave until Iron Face checks the linens.”

“Well, you know where to find me.”

As I watched him leave, I caught sight of Reina in the mansion’s second-floor window. There she stood, her silhouette a chilling still life of herself, her gaze pinning me in place. When I raised my hand to wave, she stepped back into the shadows, leaving me with the unsettling feeling that I’d just failed another test.